The present invention relates to disposable articles, and more particularly to surgical drapes.
Before the present invention, a number of drapes have been known for use during a surgical procedure. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,382, incorporated herein by reference, a variety of surgical drapes are disclosed having pockets to catch run-off fluid from a fenestration at the surgical site. However, the pockets of this drape are opaque, and the presence of the pocket contents, such as scalpels, towel clips and sponges, is obscured due to opacity of the pockets. Hence, these articles may be lost or thrown away with the drape. However, the surgeon must find these articles before closing the patient's wound due to a fear of leaving the articles inside the patient, thus causing difficulty to the operating team.